The Siberian Husky,
Samoyed, and Alaskan Malamute are all breeds directly
descended from the original "sled dog." Recent DNA
analysis confirms that this is one of the oldest breeds
of dog. The term "husky" is a corruption of the nickname
"Esky" once applied to the Eskimos and subsequently to
their dogs.

Breeds descending
from the Eskimo dog were once found throughout the
Northern Hemisphere from Siberia to Canada, Alaska,
Greenland, Labrador, and Baffin Island.

With the help of
Siberian Huskies, entire tribes of peoples were able not
only to survive, but to push forth into terra incognita.
Admiral Robert Peary of the United States Navy was aided
by this breed during his expeditions in search of the
North Pole.

Dogs from the Anadyr
River and surrounding regions were imported into Alaska
from 1908 (and for the next two decades) during the gold
rush for use as sled dogs, especially in the "All-Alaska
Sweepstakes," a 408-mile (657 km) distance dog sled race
from Nome to Candle and back. Smaller, faster and more
enduring than the 100- to 120-pound (45 to 54 kg)
freighting dogs then in general use, they immediately
dominated the Nome Sweepstakes. Leonhard Seppala, the
foremost breeder of Siberian Huskies of the time,
participated in competitions from 1909 to the mid 1920s.

On February 3, 1925
Gunnar Kaasen was first in the 1925 serum run to Nome to
deliver diphtheria serum from Nenana over 600 miles to
Nome. This was a group effort by several sled dog teams
and mushers. The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race
commemorates this famous delivery. The event is also
loosely depicted in the 1995 animated film Balto, as the
name of Gunnar Kaasen's lead dog in his sled team was
named Balto, although unlike the real dog, Balto the
character was portrayed as half wolf in the film. In
honor of this lead dog a bronze statue was erected at
Central Park in New York City. The plaque upon it is
inscribed,

Dedicated to the
indomitable spirit of the sled dogs that relayed
antitoxin six hundred miles over rough ice, across
treacherous waters, through Arctic blizzards from
Nenana to the relief of stricken Nome in the winter
of 1925. Endurance · Fidelity · Intelligence

In 1930 the last
Siberians were exported as the Soviet government closed
the borders of Siberia to external trade. The same year
saw recognition of the Siberian Husky by the American
Kennel Club. Nine years later the breed was first
registered in Canada. Today’s Siberian Huskies
registered in North America are largely the descendants
of the 1930 Siberia imports and of Leonhard Seppala’s
dogs. Seppala owned a kennel in Nenana before moving to
New England, where he became partners with Elizabeth
Ricker. The two co-owned the Poland Springs kennel and
began to race and exibit their dogs all over the
Northeast.

As the breed was
beginning to come to prominence, in 1933 Navy Rear
Admiral Richard E. Byrd brought about 50 Siberian
Huskies with him on an expedition in which Byrd hoped to
journey around the 16,000-mile coast of Antarctica. Many
of the dogs were trained at Chinook Kennels in New
Hampshire. Called Operation Highjump, the historic trek
proved the worth of the Siberian Husky due to its
compact size and greater speeds.Siberian Huskies also served in the United States
Army's Arctic Search and Rescue Unit of the Air
Transport Command during World War II.